Mid-engine Vettes that never were

1964 CERV II

FROM Zora Arkus-Duntov to Bob Lutz, GM car guys have flirted with mid-engine Vettes for more than 50 years. Zora built the first mid-engine concept in 1963, while Lutz and former chief engineer Tom Wallace were working on one when GM went bankrupt in 2009. Here are some of the mid-engined Vettes that never were.

1964 CERV II

Built as a response to Fordís GT40, the CERV a mid-mounted Corvette Grand Sport V8, and (presciently) all-wheel drive.

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1965 XP-819

This little-known rear-engine concept was built to test the viability of a V8-powered Porsche 911 fighter.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, it crashed in testing, and was quietly forgotten.

1968 XP-880

GM stuffed a big-block, 7.0-litre Corvette V8 mid-ships to give this concept plenty of grunt, but the transaxle taken from the compact Pontiac Tempest couldnít handle the torque.

1969 XP-882

Undeterred by XP-880ís failure, Zora Arkus-Duntov came back with a car powered by a transversemounted 7.4-litre V8 driving through a hefty transmission developed by GM for the front-drive Oldsmobile Toronado. h devel front Torona

1973 XP-895

This was a development of XP-882 authorised by John DeLorean. The steel bodywork was replaced with an innovative spot-welded and bonded aluminium structure, saving 182kg, but the cost was prohibitive. g, hibitive.

1973 XP-897 GT/2-Rotor

Like many carmakers in the early 1970s, GM experimented with the light, compact, powerful Wankel rotary engines. With a 134kW Pininfarina chassis. y g rotary, it was built by Pininf on a modified Porsche 914 c

1973 4-Rotor

GM stuffed a twice as powerful four-rotor Wankel engine into the XP-882 chassis and wrapped it in new panels.

The car was built in three months and debuted at the Paris motor show.

1976 Mid/V6

This was an attempt at an affordable mid-engine Corvette and was powered by a turbocharged version of the 2.8-litre Chevy Citation V6.

A prototype was built on a modified Porsche 914 platform.

1977 AeroVette

Legendary GM stylist Bill Mitchell got the 4-rotor Corvette approved for production essentially by replacing the Wankel engine with a small-block V8, but shortly after he retired. 8, the car was cancelled

1986 Corvette Indy

Initially designed to showcase GMís IndyCar race engine, it eventually was turned into a runner powered by the 283kW Lotus-developed quad-cam LT-5 V8 from the Corvette ZR-1.

1990 CERV III

Based on the Corvette Indy, but built as a fully functional engineering test bed capable of meeting all safety and emissions regulations.